French telecom Orange has launched a new high-speed telecom network across West Africa. With that, the company will be able to deliver enhanced high-speed telecom services across the country, which is home to more than 300 million people.
The new telecom network established by Orange is known as Djoliba. The network will be provided through Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. It is reported that the new network will provide cross-border transmissions where the existing infrastructure is national.
Alioune Ndiaye, Orange CEO for the Middle East and Africa, told the media, “Orange is actively contributing to the development of undersea and terrestrial infrastructure which enable the African continent’s digital transformation by investing €1 billion each year. With Djoliba, local populations will be able to access healthcare or educational services more easily, as well as the applications offered by cloud computing. Development of access to digital technology is a key challenge for Africa and I would like to congratulate our teams in all the countries for their remarkable work that has enabled the Djoliba project to come to fruition.”
It is reported that only 20 percent of sub-Saharan Africa are internet users, on the basis of the World Bank data. It pales in comparison to North America, with 90 percent of internet users.
Currently, Orange operates in 18 African countries and comprises more than 120 million customers. The company seeks to deepen its presence on the continent to ensure secure and premium connectivity is provided across West Africa.